Families page 523 Mind Religious duties in their Families page 529 Prayer must be in Families page 530 The Scriptures must be read in Families page 533 Psalmes must be sung in Families page 536 Governours of Families must give a good pattern page 538 All in a Family must be imployed page 549 The Governour of a Family must take care that his whole Family sanctifie the Lords day page 542 He must set up Discipline in his Family page 545 He must maintain love in his Family page 553 Godly Fear requisite in holy duties page 120 Fervency requisite in Prayer page 172 G THe things of God are the things of the greatest weight page 53 Godliness taken two ways page 8 9 Godliness Vide Religion Godly men meet with much opposition in the way to heaven page 65 Godliness must be our principal business page 94 95 In every part of our lives page 102 103 H A Good Harvest Gods gift page 485 486 It is our duty to Hear the word page 200 Evil Frames hinder us in Hearing page 205 Prejudice against the Preacher must be laid aside by them that would profit by Hearing page 206 to 211 The Heart must be affected with the weight efficacy and excellency of the word which we Hear page 212 Prayer requisite before hearing page 216 Right ends in Hearing to be minded page 221 False ends in hearing to be avoided page 220 Worldly thoughts hinder our Hearing page 221 222 We must hear as in Gods presence page 223 We must pray after we have Heard Vide the Word God looks much after our Hearts page 17 170 Heaven not to be obtained without diligence labour page 60 to 65 Humility required in prayer page 167 168 I IDolaters are zealous and prodigal page 418 419 Idleness the evils of it page 552 Intemperance a great sin page 417 The mischeifs of Intemperance page 418 419 Joy in God seasonable on a Lords day page 364 L LOrds day of divine institution page 337 338 God takes special notice how we keep the Lords day page 339 Preparation needful for a Lords day page 342 Wherein preparation to a Lords day consisteth page 343 to 346 Lords day a great priviledge page 348 Lords day a spicial season to get and increase grace in page 353 Publique Ordonances chiefly to be minded on the Lords day page 356 to 362 The whole Lords day to be sanctified page 372 Brief Directions for the Sanctification of the whole Lords day page 381 to 391 A good Wish about the sanctification of the Lords day page 391 A good Wish to the Lords day page 396 Lords day Vide Families and Meditation Love of Christ Vide Christs Love to Christians tried page 273 Love a help to Godliness page 553 M. MAn created for Religion Vide Epistles and page 39 Good Counsel about Marriage page 425 Meekness requisite in a Wife page 562 Meditation needful before prayer page 138 Meditation a duty on a Lords day page 377 Ministers must be godly page 6 and 498 A Minister must be industrious page 6 7. 502 People must pray for their Minister page 219 220 Ministers must act from right principles and for right ends page 499 500 Ministers must be able 501. Compassionate 504. Faithful 501 Full of courage 505. Ministers must Preach plainly purely prudently and powerfully page 507 to 510 Ministers must pray for their people page 510 Administer Sacraments 511. Chatechise 510. Visit people page 512 Ministers must be exceeding tende what example they give their people ib. Ministers must not be discouraged if their labours be not successful page 513 Ministers must give the glory of their success to God page 514 N HOw a Christian in Natural Actions may make Religion his business page 400 A good wish about Natural Actions page 441 O OBedience required page 322 341 Obedience must be in heart and life page 17 18 Obedience must be Canonical page 19 Ordinances their ends and use page 130 131 Ordinances Vide duties and Lords day P GOd hath an extrodinary respect for a Penitent soul page 277 278 Perseverance required page 35 Perseverance in prayer page 189 Pleasures Vide Recreations The excellency of Prayer page 137 138 The Prevalency of Prayer page 141 142 Prayer hath a twofold Preheminence above all other duties page 138 The Nature of Prayer page 140 The Antecedents to Prayer page 147 Meditation an help to Prayer page 148 Meditation of our sins wants and miseries needful before Prayer page 149 to 155 Meditation of God helpful to Prayer page 155 Quickening and stirring up of grace needful to Prayer page 157 Sin hindreth Prayer page 159 160 Anger hindreth Prayer page 161 Worldly Distractions hinder Prayer page 162 Gods Word must be the rule for the matter of our Prayers page 163 The Person Praying must be holy page 165 Prayer must be Vpright 170. Humble 167. Fervent 172 Constant page 178 What it is to Pray Continually page 180 A Caution about fervency in Prayer page 176 Its an ill sign to be Prayerless page 184 185 After Prayer wait for an Answer page 186 Means must be used for the obtaining our Prayers page 191 Preparation to Religious duties needful page 343 Preparation to Hearing Vide Hearing Preparation to the Lords day Vide Lords day R REcreations are lawful 446. they must not be our occupation 450 they must be used for good ends 454. In due season page 456 Recreations are unseasonable on a Lords day page 457 458 and in times of the Churches sufferings page 461 A good wish about Recreations page 462 Religion must be our business page 10 What Religion is page 13 14 The several derivations of the word Religion page 13 What it is to make it ones business 21. It implieth to give it precedency 22. To pursue it with industry 26. To persevere with constancy page 35 Why Religion must be made our business page 39 Religion is the end of mans creation page 40 Religion is a work of the greatest weight 45 to 49. It is Soul-work 49. It is God-work 52. It is Eternity-work page 57 The necessity of making Religion our business page 60 to 70 Religion much neglected page 72 The neglect of Religion bewailed page 73 79 Our greatest care must be about Religious duties page 108 Vide Godliness and Duties Repentance consisteth in mourning for sin and turning from sin page 276 280 S SAints called Lillies why page 268 Saints shamed by sinners page 88 89 92 93 Scripture a great mercy page 198 Vide Hearing and the Word Sacrament of the Lords Supper a seal of the Covenant page 251 The Sacrament a resemblance of Christs death 252. An evidence of his love 253. A great Supper in four respects page 253. The excellency of the Sacrament page 255 Much care about the Supper page 255 256 The danger of receiving the Supper unworthily page 256 to 262 Christ takes notice how men prepare for the Sacrament page 257 Preparation requisite before it 264 265. Wherein preparation for it consisteth page 266 to 279 Our dependance must be on Christ for assistance after our greatest preparation for the Sacrament page 282 Subjects to be meditated on at a Sacrament 285. Christs sufferings 286 to 293. Christs love 293 to 300. Our own sins ib. Graces to be exercised at the Sacrament 300. Faith in its threefold act 303 to 310. Love 312. Repentance page 315 What a Christian should do after a Sacrament page 319 320 Men to be very careful in the choice of Servants page 526 527 Sinners very zealous for sin page 87 88 89 Sobriety vide Temperance Sleep how to be ordered page 437. Its ends 440. Quantity page 437 Season page 439 Soul-work weighty page 49 The welfare of the body dependeth on the Soul page 51 The Souls excellency page 50 T. TEmperance commended page 416 Vide Natural Actions and Eating Thankfulness enjoyned 413 415. For the Word 236. For the Sacrament page 319 U. VNgodliness brancheth it self into Atheism and superstition page 1 2 Uprightness acceptable to God page 171 Unthankfulness page 408 W GOod Counsel about the Choice of a Wife page 525 526 Word why called the grace of God page 203 Gods power alone can make the Word effectual page 217 218 When the Word cometh with power then it profiteth page 229 Its woful to live under the Word and not to be changed by it page 231 We must bless God for his Word page 237 The Word must be obeyed page 240 241 242 Word Vide Hearing Worldlings eager for the World page 74 to 78 Our Worship of God must be inward and outward page 14 to 19 Man made for the Worship of God Vide Man God is very choice in his Worship page 109 110 Gods Worship must be according to his Word page 19 20 God alone the object of Worship page 16 Its ill to dally with Gods Worship page 112 Much Watchfulness required in the Worship of God page 113 Y YOuth Vide Family instruction FINIS
the Conquest strive and stretch themselves to the utmost he that loytereth is as sure to lose as if he sate still The lazy World because Christ sends chapmen up and down with his wares to offer them to every house to every heart think to have them at their own ordinary rates but they shall find that grace which is many degrees short of glory is not to be had by sloth and idlâ—ness there must be lifting up the heart lending the ears seeking searching begging digging attention of the ouâ—ward intention of the inward man before men can understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God Prov. 2.3 4 5. Though it be easie to let the backet into the Well yet it is hot work and hard labour to draw water out of the Well of Salvation The laborious Bee onely is laden with hony The desire of the slothful killeth him O si O si O tiosi because his hands refuse to labour Non est e terris mollis ad aslra via Seâ—â—c Prov. 21.5 He is full of wishing but far from working As the Cat he would fain have the Fish but is unwilling to wet his Feet his desires are destitute of sutable endeavours and therefore rather harm him then help him Like Ishbosheth he lazeth on his bed till he is deprived of his life He thinketh to be hurried in hast to Heaven to be carried as passengers in a Ship asleep in their cabins to their Haven but is all the while in a deceitful Dream There is no going to those Heavens where Christ is in his glory as the sick man came to the house where Christ was in his estate of ignominy let down in a bed He that will be but almost a Christian must be content to go but almost to Heaven Idleness is the burial of our persons and negliligence is the burial of our actions Writing on the Sand is easie but soon worn out It s mar'd witâ— a small breath of wind but writing on marble as it is more permanent so it costeth more pains An idle servant is in Gods esteem an evil servant he doth not distinguish betwixt a slothful and an unfaithful man His Word tells us that he hath bonds for those hands that are folded in the bosom when they should be working for a blessing that he hath fetters for those feet that stand still and stick fast in the mire and mud of sinful pleasures when they should be running the way of his precepts nay that he hath utter darkness for them that will not walk and work while they enjoy the light Matth. 25.26 and 30. He that takes his ease in this world must travel in the next Two things shew a necessity that Godliness must be made our business if ever we would make any thing of it First Because of the opposition we meet with in the way of Religion When the Wind and Tide are both with the Marriner he may hoise up his sail and sit still but when both are against him he must row hard or never think to come to his Haven The way to Heaven is like Jonathans passage against the Philistims betwixt two rocks the one Bozez dirty the other Seneb thorny the men of the world will be ever diligent either with dirt to bespatter their credits or with thorns to wound and pierce their consciences that walk in this path he must therefore have a mind well resolved to take pains and his feet well shod with patience that will go this way to Paradise The way of this world is like the vale of Siddim slimy and slippery full of lime-pits and stumbling-blocks to maim or mischief us Saints are Princes in all lands but as Princes that pass through a Country in disguise meet with many affronts so do Christians The flesh is like Birdlime which when the spirit would at any time mount up to Heaven with the wings of Faith and Meditation hampers and hinders it it is the holy souls prison wherein it is fettered and fastned that it cannot as it would walk at liberty and seek Gods precepts The Devil both a Serpent for craft and a Lion for cruelty doth out of his hatred to God make it his constant business by his power and policy to hinder Godliness As the Panther because he cannot come at the person he tears the picture where-ever he finds it We wrestle not with flesh and blood but with Principalities and Powers Ephes 6.12 While Satan reigneth in a creature all may be quiet and calm but if he be once cast out he will rage and roar to purpose While Israel serveth the Egyptians carrying their crosses bearing their burdens doing their drudgery all is well but when once they shake off Pharoahs yoke turn their backs upon Egypt and set out for Canaan with what force and fury are they pursued to be brought back to their former bondage Christ was no sooner baptized then buffetted he went as it were out of the water of baptism into the fire of temptation and if the Prince were all his time persecuted his Subjects must not expect to be wholly priviledged The cross is tied as a tag to the profession of Christianity Matth. 10.30 One Article in the Indenture which all Apprentices must seal to that will call Christ Master is to bear the cross daily Matth. 16. The Saints are as vessels floating on the waters of Meribah where Omne quod flat Aquilo est as Tertullian saith of Pontus no wind blows but what is sharp and keen The Hebrews were no sooner enlightned to their conversion but they indured a sharp fight of affliction their lightning was accompanied with a grievous storm Heb. 10.32 Holiness is usually followed with much hatred and hardship The enemies of mans salvation are impudent and uncessant ever raging never resting Plut. in vit Marcel What the Carthaginian Commander said of Marcellus may be truly spoken by us in regard of them Per varios casus per tot discrimina rerum Tendimus ad coelum That we have to do with those who will never be quiet either Conquerors or conquered but Conquerors they will pursue their victory to the utmost and conquered labour to recover their loss Satan especially is both wrathful and watchful to undermine souls He is fitly called Beelzebub the master Fly because as a Fly he quickly returns to the bait from which he was but now beaten Though Emperors may turn Christians saith Austin yet the Devils will not Doth not this fully speak the necessity of making Godliness our business Opposuit Natura Alpemque nivemque Deduxit scopulos montem ru oit Aceto Juv. Sat. 10. Can such difficulties be conquered without much diligence Who can eat his way like Hannibal through such Alps of opposition without hot water and hard work If like Sampson we would break all these cords of opposition in sunder we must awake out of sleep and put forth all our strength Saints
all night drinking healths to others whilst he leaves none to himself how often doth his brains crow before break of day the Chief and Adulterer love and long for darkness to cover and countenance their cursed deeds Job 24.14 15 16. Pro. 7.9 Once more As sin is their nourishment their food and sleep so it is their Garment their Ornament Pride compasseth them about as a chain violence covereth them as a Garment Psa 73.6 A chain of pearle doth not better become their Necks nor the richest robes adorn their Backs then sin doth in their judgements become and sute their souls They glory in their shame Plato saith of Protagoras that he boasted whereas he had lived â—ixty years he had spent Forty years in corrupting youth They brag of that which they ought to bewayl They plot sin with their heads They conceive mischief Psa 7.14 they affect sin with their hearts their hearts are after their covetousness Ezek. 33. They act with their hands what their heads forge and their hearts favour they do evil with both hands earnestly Micah 7.3 They work so hard till they are weary thou hast wearied thy self in the multitude of thy counsels Isa 47.13 Pliny saith of the Scorpion that there is not one minute wherein he doth not put forth his sting these cannot cease from sin 2 Pet. 2. they do even contend which of them shall exceed in sin as unhappy boys strive who shall go farthest in the Dirt. All the rubs which are layd in their way do rather increase their rage then hinder their riot When God would stop the stream of their lusts by his prohibitions laws judgements like waters dammed up they swell the more and like the possessed person break all those cords in peices When Paul chides the Ephesians for their Idolatry they cry out for it with the greater vehemency When Steven had reproved the Jews for their cruelty they were cut the to heart and gnash upon him with their teeth Acts 7.54 57. When Ahaz was hampered in affliction like a mad Dog he bites at his Chain and sins yet more in his distress against the Lord. When the sinners tide of nature is thwarted and croft by the winds of reproof or some judgement what a storm is presently raised how doth he like the Sea presently discover and foam out his own shame Though God command intreat perswade threaten promise yet all this Physick doth often but move and stir not remove nor purge away their ill humours O how deadly is that disease which no physick can cure and how tough is that wood which no wedge can cleave The bird will beware of the pitfal in which she bath been caught and the beast of the snare in which he hath been taken but brutish man more foolish then beasts will not be parted from sin though he have been sharply punished for it The Wicked are estranged from the womb they go astray as soon as they are born speaking Lies Their poison is like the poyson of a Serpent they are like the deaf Adder that stoppeth her ears which will not hearken to the voyce of Charmers charming never so wisely Psa 58.3 4 5. The Serpent when she begins to feel the Charmer clappeth one ear presently to the ground and stoppeth the other ear with her tail although by hearkening to the Charmer as some observe she would be provoked to spit out her poyson and renew hâ—r age So hot is man upon his Harlot sin that he is deaf to all that would counsel him to the contrary he stoppeth his ear hardeneth his heart stifneth his neck against the thunders of the Law the still voice of the Gospel the motions of the Spirit and the convictions of his own conscience When sin calls they run through thick and thin for hast when the World commands how readily do they hearken how quickly do they hear how faithfully do they obey but when the blessed God cryeth to them chargeth them by his unquestionable authority beseecheth them for their own unchangeable felicity they like statues of men rather then living creatures stand still and stir not at all Other things move swiftly to their centers Stones fall tumbling downward Sparks fly apace upward Conies run with speed to their burrows Rivers with violence to the Ocean and yet filly man hangs off from his maker that neither intreaties nor threatnings nor the word nor the Works of God nor hope of Heaven nor fear of Hell can quicken or hasten him to his happiness Who would imagine that a reasonable souly should act so much against sense and reason Where is the Saint that is not shamed by the very damned sinners drive furiously like Jehu against their God their Soveraign but Saints like Egyptians drive heavily though they are marching in the road to the Heavenly Canaan Ah who presseth towards the mark for the price of the high calling Who works so hard to be preferd to the beatifical vision as wicked men do to be punisht with eternal destruction they sweat at sowing in the Devils field when all they shall reap thereby will be damnation and thou freezest in seeking Gods favour when the fruit thereof will bee everlasting Salvation O Reader Consider and mourn that the deceitful world who will leave their lovers in the greatest danger should have such hot and violent woers that Superstition should be so greedily caught at though like Hemlock it makes them run mad that eat it and ends often in desperation nay that the loathsom monster Sin whose Father is the Devil whose service is perfect slavery whose Joynture is blackness of darkness for ever should have so many and such eager earnest Suitors and â—et Godliness whose birth is noble from Heaven whose person is lovely the beautiful image of the blessed God whose portion is large no less then Eternal life should be by most wholly slighted and it best but coldly courted Surely this ought to be for a lamentation Good God whither did man go when he departed away from thee The ancient men wept when they saw the foundation of the Second Temple laid considering how far it came short of the glory and beauty of the First Ezra 3.12 What cause have we then to weep floods of tears when we ponder how short man is nay how contrary man is to his primitive purity and perfection Godliness was then his business but is now his burthen Sin was then loathed as his bane but is now loved as his daily bread CHAP. X. An Exhortation to make Godliness our business in the whole course of our lives THe second and principal Use which I shall make of this Doctrine shall be by way of Exhortation Ought Godliness to be every ones business then Reader let me perswade thee in the fear of God to put this Precept into practice Exercise thy self to Godliness Let it be the chief trade thou drivest the principal calling thou followest to worship the true God in heart and life according to his
his Ordinances God is greatly to be feared in the Assembly of his Saints and had in reverence of all them that are round about him Psa 89.7 When God intended to give the Law to Israel Exod. 19.11 12 14. the Jews must sanctifie themselves three days beforehand and when God came on the third day to deliver his pleasure to the people with what pomp and terror was proclamation made He descends in his Royal robes with a noble Retinue of Saints and Angels and with the dreadful ensigns of his Power Majesty and Jealousie Deut. 33.2 The Lord came from Sinai and rose from Seir he shined forth from mount Paran and he came with ten thousand of Saints from his right hand went a flery law for them Exo. 19.16 18 Then were there thunders and lightnings and a thick cloud upon the mount and the voyce of the Trumpet exceeding loud so that all the people that were in the camp trembled And mount Sinai was altogether in a smoke because the Lord descended upon it in fire and the smoke thereof ascended as the smoke of a furnace and the whole mount quaked greatly and why is all this Why doth the Mighty possessour of Heaven and earth appear at that time in such state and royalty and magnificence with such a rich Train of Heavenly Courtiers with such Thundring Vallies of Shot with the Mountain Smoking under him and Trumpets sounding before him but to assure us that he is not so contemptible as to be slighted by any that he is not impotent but able to revenge himself on all that affront him nay to teach us that he will be feared and reverenced in all them that draw nigh to him Therefore he will make even Moses whom he knew face to face Heb. 12 21. at such a time exceedingly to quake and fear Civil or natural difference amongst us here below commandeth proportionable reverence the Subject must fear his Soveraign 1 Pet. 2.17 The Servant must obey his Master with fear and trembling Ephes 6.5 the Wife must see that she reverence her Husband Ephes 5. ult If there be such reverence due from one creature to another when they were all made of the same course earthly mold and must all be buried in the bowels of their common Mother when there is no essential but onely an extrinsecal difference between them what reverence is due from poor dust and ashes to the God of the Spirit of all flesh the King of Kings and Lord of Lords between whom and his creatures there is an infinite distance It behoveth us The worship of God is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a partic 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 valde pavere 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 quâ—d est more canis ad pedes alicujus tanqua m domini totum sese prostâ—rnere subjectionis gratia â—anch said Bernard to enter into the celestial Court at prayer time where the King of Heaven sits on his Starry stately throne environed with an innumerable company of glorious Angels and crowned Saints with great reverence and fear Ah with what humility should a poisonous poluted Toad creep and crawl out of a Ditch into the presence of so glorious and dreadful a Majesty The holy Servants of God were antiently called Nephalim from Nephal to fall down Prostrates or fallers because in the Worship of God thy usually fell on the earth The Elders of Israel trembled at the coming of Samuel 1 Sam. 16.4 and shall not we tremble when the great God cometh to us in his Ordinances Every Relation in which men stand to God calls for awfulness and dread of him If I be a Father where is mine honour If I be your Master where is my fear Mal. 1.6 but especially in the Saints approaches to him they must stand in aw of him When God appeared to Jacob at Bethel where he saw nothing but Visions of love he cryeth out This is none other but the House of God How dreadful is this place Gen. 28.17 The great Turk when he goeth into his Temple layeth aside all his state and hath none to attend him but a professour of the Law Therefore Reader Deut. 28.58 be perswaded to fear that glorious and fearful Name the Lord thy God That Name which is the greatest prop of thine affiance commandeth thy fear and reverence When thou hearest In the fear of God give audience to his word Act. 13.16 Poor peasants must be trembling when this Prince is speaking With meekness receive that word which will damn or save thy soul Alass with what fear should a condemned Prisoner attend to his King when every word he speaks is life or death It becomes the greatest Persons â—o be awful in Gods presence Constantine the Great when hearing a Sermon Euseb de vâ—t Constant. l. 3. c 17. would start out of his Chair of State being ravished with the word and stand up for a long time and being minded by his Courtiers that such a posture was unbecoming his high place he would not hearken to them Eglon though a fat unweildy man as soon as Ehud told him that he had a Message from God to him rose up to hear it Judg. 3.20 Abraham who had the honour and favour to be Gods friend yet when God spake to him fell on his face Gen. 17.3 Moses though high in the heart of God yet is hunâ—ble when he hears from God He boweth his head to wards the Earth and Worships Exod 34.8 When thou prayest put up thy petitions to him with awful apprehensions of him The vulg Lat. read that Psa 84.11 abjectus in domo Dei mei to be cast upon the Earth to lie prostrate in the House of God The Eastern Christians when they called on God threw themselves on the ground Luther prayed with confidence as to a Father but with reverence as to a God Remember when thou takest upon thee to speak unto the Lord yet thou art but dust and ashes Gen. 18.27 Thou art at best but a Beggar and a proud heart will not suit a Beggars purse The poor must use intreaties Prov. 18.23 The twenty four Elders fell on their faces and worshipped Rev. 4.16 So did Jesus Christ himself in prayer Mat. 26.39 O come let us Worship and bow down let us kneel before the Lord our Maker Psa 95.6 The Elephant that could not bow nor kneel was no fit Beast for a Sacrifice Go to the Sacrament Mat. 28.8 that representation of Christs suffering as the Disciples went from his Sepulchre with fear and great joy The Fathers call it misterium tremendum the nearer we draw to God in any Ordinance the greater must be our reverence In a Sermon we draw nigh to him as Pupils to their Tutor In prayer as Children to their Father but at a Sacrament we talk with God face to face We Sup with him and he with us If Angels vail their faces in his presence much more cause have
in it or the verdict will be to his cost and damage That which boils gently over a small fire may be of use to us which if it should boil hastily and run over it may raise ashes enough to spoil it self The way to lose our requests for temporals is to be as hot and hasty for them as if they were our all even our eternals That incomparable patern of prayers the Lords Prayer which is like a Standard-measure in a Corporation Town for present use and an example for others hath five petitions for Spirituals and but one for Temporals God hath promised spiritual things absolutely therefore thou mayest desire them absolutely For pardon and the image of God and the blood of Christ and fulness of joy in the other World thou mayst be as earnest so humble and reverent as thou wilt And O! what a mercy is it that God though like a wise father he deny us leave to cry for the candle which would burn and the thorns which would prick our fingers yet he giveth us liberty to nay commandeth us to besiege and storm Heaven to follow him up and down to cry day and night to give him no rest to be instant urgent and fervent with him that our persons may be justified our natures sanctified and our souls and bodies glorified eternally Fourthly Thy prayers must be constant Thy duty is to give thy self to prayer as a servant devoted to and at the command of his noble Master This fire like that on the Altar must never go out day nor night Night and day praying exceedingly 1 Thess 3.10 Paul speaks as if his practice had been nothing but prayer he did that so much that he seemed to do nothing else Prayer is a Saints breath which he constantly draweth Ephes 6.18 Praying alwayes with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all Saints Those that work in Iron Mills keep a continual fire though they suffer it sometimes to slack or abate yet never to go out A Christians prayer may have an intermission but never a cessation Our blessed Saviour besides his set times for ordinary did pray whole nights David was a good Husband up early at it mine eyes prevent the dawning of the morning Psa 119.147 At night he was late at this duty at mid-night will I rise to give thanks to thee Psa 119.62 this surely was his meaning when he said he should dwell in the House of the Lord for ever he would be ever in the House of Prayer Gregory writes of his Aunt Trucilla that her Elbows were as hard as an horn by often leaning upon a Desk when she prayed Jâ—â—chim the Father of the Virgin Mary used to say that prayer was his meat and drink There is no duty injoyned a Christian for his constant trade so much as prayer Pray always pray continually pray without ceasing pray with perseverance pray evermore But why is all this would God have his people do nothing else but pray must they cast by their callings cast off all care of their children and shut themselves up into some Cell or Cloyster and there be always upon their knees at prayer as the Euchites fancied No I shall therefore give a brief description of this praying without ceasing 1. Thy soul must be ever in a praying frame The Souldier hath his Weapons ready though not always in fight with his enemy Thy heart must be ever in Tune and ready upon the least touch to make heavenly Musick The Churches lips are compared to an hony-comb Cant. 4.11 The hony comb doth not always drop but it is always ready to drop The beleivers spirit is like fire upon the Hearth though it do not blaze yet its ready upon any opportunity to be blown up into a flame 2. No considerable business must be undertaken without prayer Thou art Gods servant and thy duty is to ask his leave in all thou dost Ephes 4.6 In all things let your requests be made known to God When thou risest up or liest down when thou goest out or comest in prayer must still be with thee Prayer is the way to prevent evil The Worlds poison may be expelled with this antidote Joh. 17.11 He that converseth with God by prayer dwelleth in Heaven and to such a one the earth is but a small point Prayer is both a Charm to inchant and a scourge to torment Satan It ingageth Christ in the combat with the Devil and so assureth the soul of conquest When the Saint is fighting and like to be foild either by the World the Flesh or the Wicked one prayer is the Letter which he sendeth Post to Heaven for fresh supplies of the spirit whereby he becometh more then a conqueror Prayer is the way to procure good he that will not speak must not expect to speed It sanctifieth our food raymont sleep callings and all our enjoyments to us The Christian like the Chymist extracteth all good things out of this one body of prayer 3. He that prayeth constantly hath set times every day for prayer The Morning and Evening Sacrifice were called the continual Sacrifice Numb 28.4 The Christian hath his set meals for his soul every day as well as for his body With the Mary-gold he opens himself in the morning for the sweet dews of Heavens grace and blessing and he doth at night though his occasions hinder him in the day like a Lover find some opportunity to converse with his beloved He is most free and fresh in the morning the top of the milk is the cream and he doth not think his best too good for God His evening fare is sometime extraordinary like the Jewish feasts which were at Supper The spiced cup is best at the bottom Prayer is the key of the morning to open the door of mercy and prayer is the bolt at night to shut him up in safety The Jews prayed in the Temple the third sixth and ninth hour of the day our priviledges under the Gospel are enlarged and I know no reason why our prayers should be lessened He that prayeth continually doth upon all occasions in the day time whatever he be about put up his supplication to God He hath his ejaculations his holy Apostrophes wherein he doth turn his speech at least internal and inarticulate â—â—om man to God This liberty is a great priviledge and this practice turnes to wonderful profit When Jacob was blessing his Sons he takes breath with I have waited for thy Salvation O Lord Gen 49.14 Nehemiah when at the Kings Elbow would not open his mouth to the King till he had opened his heart to God Neh. 2.6 When Noah was cursing Cham he had a short ejaculation for a blessing on Japhet God shall perswade Japhet to dwell in the tents of Shem which prayer hath been answered and will be to the end of the World We Gentiles fare the better for that prayer Christ upon the Cross darted up a short
heart to spiritual joy and delight therein Holy alacrity and joy is not onely a crown and credit to but also a special part of Christianity The Kingdom of God consisteth not in meats and drink but in righteousness and peace and joy in the holy Ghost Rom. 14.17 Gods ways are not so bad but that the Travellers in them may be chearful His work is good wages and therefore it s no wonder that his Servants are so joyful Because beleivers have ever cause of comfort therefore they are commanded always to rejoyce Phil. 3. Whether their sins or sufferings come into their hearts they must not sorrow as they that have no hope In their saddest conditions they have the spirit of consolation There is seed of joy sown within them when it is buried under the clods and appears not above ground But there are special times when God calls for this grain to spring up They have some red letters some holy days in the Calendar of their lives wherein this joy as Wine at a Wedding is most seasonable but among all those days it never relisheth so well it never tasteth so pleasantly as on a Lords day joy sutes no person so much as a Saint and it becomes no season so well as a Sabbath Joy in God on other days is like the Birds Chirping in winter which is pleasing but joy on a Lords day is like their warbling Tunes and pretty notes in Spring when all other things look with a sutable delightful aspect This is the day which the Lord hath made he that made all days so especially of this day but what follows we will rejoyce and be glad therein Psa 118.24 In which words we have the Churches solace or joy and the season or day of it Her solace was great We will rejoyce and be glad Those expressions are not needless repetitions but shew the exeuberancy or high degree of their joy The season of it This is the day the Lord hath made Compare this place with Mat. 21.22.23 and Act. 4.11 and you will find that the precedent verses are a prophetical prediction of Christs Resurrection Sic. Arnob. and so this verse foretels the Churches joy upon that memorable and glorious day And indeed if a feast be made for laughter Eccles 10.19 Then that day wherein Christ feasteth his Saints with the choicest mercies may well command his greatest spiritual mirth A thanksgiving day hath a double precedency of a fast day On a Fast-day we eye Gods anger On a Thanksgiving-day we look to God favour In the former we specially mind our own corruptions In the latter Gods compassions therefore a Fast-day calls for sorrow a Thanksgiving day for joy But the Lords day is the highest thanksgiving day and deserveth much more then the Jewish Purim to be a day of feasting and gladness and a good day On this day we enjoy the Communion of Saints and shall we not delight in those excellent ones Psa 16.3 On this day we have fellowship with the blessed Saviour and shall we not fit under his shadow with great delight Cant. 1. On this day we are partakers of the Ordinances of God and shall we not be joyful in the House of prayer Isa 56.7 On this day we have special converse with the God of Ordinances and who would not draw water with joy out of the Well of Salvation Isa 12.3 Surely whilst we are in the midst of so much Musk we must needs be perfumed Who can walk where the Sun shines so hot and not be warmed It is Gods precept as well as thy priviledge to make Gods day thy delight If thou call the Sabbath a delight the holy of the Lord Isa 58.13 Delights Tremel reads it Thy delicate things according to the Septuag Whether thou art meditating on Gods works or attending on Gods Word which are the two principal duties of the day they both call for delight and joy If on this day of rest thou considerest the work of creation and Gods rest it behoveth thee to follow Davids pattern Thou Lord hast made me glad through thy works I will triumph in the works of thy hands Psa 92.4 If thou considerest the work of Redemption and Christs rest surely out of the carcass of the Lion of the tribe of Judah thou mayst get some Honey as may delight thy soul and force thee to sing My soul doth magnifie the Lord my spirit rejoyceth in God my Saviour Luk. 1.46 47. The babe in the womb leapt for joy of him before he was born The heavenly host sung at his birth and wilt not thou at his second birth his resurrection from the dead O let the Primitive Christians salutations be thy consolation The Lord is risen If thou meditatest on glorification and thine own rest canst thou do less then rejoyce in hope of glory what Prisoner shackled with Satans temptations and fettered with his own corruptions in the dark Gaol of this World can think of the time when his Irons shall be knockt off and he enjoy the pleasant light and glorious liberty of the Sons of God and not be transported with joy What heir in his minority banisht from his kindred and country can think without comfort of his full age when he shall have the full fruition both of his estate and friends doubtless friend the Sabbaths of the holy are the Suburbs of heaven In heaven there is no buying no selling no ploughing no sowing nothing but worshiping God communion with him fruition of him and delight in him There remains a rest for the people of God There they rest from their labours If thou on a Lords day turnest thy back upon the World and goest up into the mount conversing with and rejoycing in the blessed God what dost thou less then begin thine eternal Sabbath here Such a Lords day can be no less then Heaven in a looking glass representing truly though darkly thy future eternal happiness There is no perfume so sweet to a Pilgrim as his own smoak When thou art attending on the word truely that Aquavitae that hot water may well revive thy spirit Thy testimonies are my delight saith David I have rejoyced more in thy testimonies then in all manner of riches Psa 119.24 77. The Word of God is sometimes called a treasure and what beggar would not rejoyce in a treasure sometimes fire and truly Reader thine heart is frozen to purpose if this fire do not heat it Salomon tell us As cold water to a thirsty soul so is good news from a far Country Prov. 25.25 The Word of God contains the best news that ever ears heard Peace on earth good will towards men and the glad tidings of the Gospel come from Heaven a far Country What canst thou say then why they should not be as welcome and refreshing to thee as cold water to a thirsty soul Variety of things that are excellent is not a little ground of complacency in them Variety of choice voices please the ear variety
Thou art his rest for ever in thee he will dwell for he hath desired it Let him abundantly bless thy provision and satisfie thy poor with bread let him cloath thy Priests with salvation and let thy Saints shout aloud for joy lot thine Enemies be cloathed with shame but upon thy head let the Crown flourish let Nations bow down to thee let Kingdomes fall down before thee Let all the Kingdomes of the earth become the Kindomes of thy Lord and of thy Christ be thou honoured as long as the Son and moon shall endure even throughout all Generations Thou art like Joseph a fruitful bough even a fruitful bough by a Wall whose Branches run over the Wall The Archers have sorely greived thee and shot at thee endeavouring to weaken thy morality and hated thee but thy bow abode in strength by the hands of the mighty God of Jacob from thence is the Shepherd the stone of Israel Even by the Lord of Sabbaths who shall help thee and by the Almighty who shall bless thee with blessings of Heaven above blessings of the deep that lieth under blessings of the breasts and of the womb the blessings of this day have prevailed above the blessings of all other day let them be continued and increased on the heads of this holy and honourable day and on the head of that day which is separate from it brethren Let them be ashamed and confounded that seek after thy hurt let them be turned back and put to confusion that desire thy ruine let all those that seek thee rejoyce and be glad in thee let them that love thy sanctification say continually Let the Lord be magnified who delighteth in the prosperity of his Saints and therefore hath set apart his Sabbath for their soul good Thou like Jacob hast got away the blessing from the other days yea thy God hath blessed thee and thou shalt be blessed Blessed are they that bless thee and cursed are they that curse thee In a word The Lord be gracious to thee and delight in thee and cause the light of his countenance to shine upon thee let all thine Ordinances be cloathed with power and be effectual for the conversion and salvation of millions of souls Let thy name be great from the rising of the Sun to the going down of the same Finally farewel sweet day thou cream of time thou Epitome of eternity thou heaven in a glass thou first fruits of a blessed and everlasting harvest did I say farewel A welfare I wish to thee but O let me never lose thee or take my leave of thee till I come to enjoy thee in an higher form to see the Sun of righteousness who early on thy morning rose and made a day indeed while the natural Sun was behind face to face and to know thy Maker and Master as I am known of him when I shall be a pillar in the Temple of my God and shall go out no more but serve him day and night to whom for the inestimable dignity and priviledge of his own day be Honour and Glory for ever and ever Amen Amen CHAP. XXIII How a Christian may exercise himself to Godliness in natural actions And first in eating and drinking AS thy duty is to make religion thy business in religious Secondly so also in natural actions A good Scrivener is not onely careful how he makes his first and great letters his flourishes but also the smallest letters nay his very stops and comma's A Scribe instructed for the Kingdom of heaven is heedfull not only that the weightest actions of Gods immediate worship but also that the meaner passages of his life be conformable to Gods law A wise builder will make his Kitchin as well as his Parlor according to rule A holy person turns his natural actions into spiritual and whilst he is serving his body he is serving his God It is said of a Scotch Divine That he did eat Non semper ore non semper meditor sed vestio dormio edo bi bo haee omnia si in fide fiunt tanquam recte facta divino judicio approbantur Luth. in Gen. 33. drink and sleep eternal life Luther tels us that though he did not always pray and meditate but did sometimes eat and sometimes drink and sometimes sleep yet all should further his account the latter as truly though not so abundantly as the former And indeed it is our priviledge that natural actions may be adopted into the family of religion and we may worship God as really at our tables as in his temple Saints must not like brute beasts content themselves with a natural use of the creatures but use them as chariots to mount them nearer and cords to bind them closer to God Piety or Holiness to the Lord must be written upon their pots Zac. 14.20 Whether ye eat or drink or whatsoever ye do do all to the glory of God 1 Cor. 10. â—31 Philo observeth that the ancient Jews made their feasts after sacrifice in the temple that the place might mind them of their duty to be pious at them It is a memorable expression Exod. 18.12 And Aaron came Sancti manducant et bibunt in conspectu Dei Origen in loc and all the elders of Israel to eat bread with Moses father in law before God In which words we have the greatness of their courtesie and the graciousness of their carriage For their courtesie though Jethro were a stranger and no Israelite yet the elders honored him with their company And Aaron and all the elders came to eat bread with Moses father in law But mark the graciousness of their carriage they came to eat bread with him before God that is In gloriam et honorem Dei to the honor and glory of God saith Calvin They received their sustenance as in Gods sight and caused their provision to tend to Gods praise God takes it ill when we sit down to table and leave him out Zach. 7.6 When ye did eat and when ye did drink did ye not eat for your selves and drink for your selves He sends us in all our food we live at his cost and therefore our eating may well be to his credit who is the Master of the feast The Jews according to some had officers at every feast whom they called Praefecti morum their work was the inspection of the guests that none should disorder themselves I must tell thee Gods eye is upon thee every meal he takes notice whether thy behaviour is as becometh a Saint And truly friend It behoves thee to use religion as a bridle in thy mouth to hold thee in when thou art eating and drinking Thy throat is a slippery place and sin may easily slip down It s no hard matter to sin whilst the thing thou art about is not sinfull How many feed without fear and thereby fatten themselves to the slaughter Jude ver 12. We read of some whose tables are snares in which they have been
most that gives most He that soweth liberally shall reap liberally I have sometimes considered with my self and wondred why Nabal should be so exceeding churlish to David as not to spare of his superfluities to supply Davids necessities when David had been so exceeding civil to him as to preserve his flocks in safety from the rage of hungry Souldiers But when I marked well the story I quickly found the cause of Nabals covetous carriage He looked upon himself as Master of his estate and not as Gods servant to improve it for his profit and praise Shall I take my bread and my water and my flesh and give it to men whom I know not whence they be 1 Sam. 25.11 Had he but had so much grace as to have called it Gods bread and Gods water he would have disposed it according to Gods word and not have denied a poor persecuted Saint but because he counted it his own proper wealth therefore it must be disposed according to his own pernicious will Reader look upon thy self in regard of thine estate only as a servant in trust which thou must shortly give an account of and then to do good and to distribute thou wilt not forget as knowing that with such sacrifices God is well pleased Heb. 3.16 Secondly Thy duty is to eat and drink soberly The grace of God which bringeth salvation hath appeared to us teaching us to live soberly in this present evill world Tit. 2.12 This sobriety respecteth both the quantity and the quality of thy diet First Thy duty is to be temperate as to the quantity of thy diet Reason is content with a little Religion with less Although no certain proportion of food can be prescribed to men for those showers which drown the clay vallies do hardly quench the thirst of the sandy hills Neither the bodies of men nor their stomacks are all of a size yet this is a certain rule for a man to eat or drink so much as to oppress nature and to unfit himself for prayer is a degree of intemperance God gave man food to further not to hinder him in his general and particular calling and surely they sin who feed till like fatted horses they are unfit for service Turtull speaking of the carriage of the Primitive Christians at their meals tells us Non prius discumbitur quam oratio ad deum praegustetur editur quantum esurientes cupiunt bâ—bitur quantum pudicis est utile ita saturantur ut qui meminerint eti am per noctem sibi adorandum deum esse Tertull. Apologet. They do not sit down before they have prayed they eat as much as may satisfie hunger they drink so much as is sufficient for temperate men are filled as they that remember they must pray afterwards Christians may chear nature but they must not clog it It is a great prviledge in the charter granted us by the King of Kings that we should have dominion over the creatures but it will be a sorbid bondage if we suffer them to have dominion over us instead of being our servants to become our Masters Psa 8.5 6 7. God in the very framing of man intended him for temperance by giving a little mouth with a narrow throat and a lesser belly then other creatures And in mans charter which speaks his leave to slay the beasts in Gods forrest observe in what tenure it runs Every living thing that moveth shall be meat for you There is the general concession even as the green hearb have I given you all things here is the special limitation That is saith an Expositour to use them soberly and moderately Wilet Hex in gen not to gluttony and excess It is an abominable shame to a Saint to be a slave to the beast in him his sensitive appetite He that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things Beasts seldome surfet at their food never sin Epicurus who esteemed mans happiness to consist in pleasures was yet very temperate as Cicero and others observe Socrates was wont to say That evil men live that they may eat and drink but good men eat and drink that they may live Some of the heathen did very much hate excess either in eating or drinking The old Gauls were very sparing in their diet and fined them that out-grew their girdles Drunkenness by Solons law was punished with death The Spartans brought their children to loath drunkenness by causing them to behold the beastly behaviour of their servants when they were drunk But how many nominal Christians in regard of temperance come short of heathens Wo to the drunkards of Ephraim of England God hath a cup of red wine of pure wrath and these must drink the dregs therof how doth this iniquity abound men drink healths so long till they drink away their health and their heaven too Some mariners observe that as the waters grow shallower the sea losing about the coasts of Holland and Zealand the waters grow deeper the sea gaining about the English coasts Whether drunkenness ebb in Holland or no I know not I am sure it floweth in England We may complain as Diogenes Laertius of his country men that when they went to sacrifice to health they did then most riotously abuse health There was a street in Rome called Sobrius vicus The sober street because there was never an Ale-house there But how few towns have we which may be called sober towns because there are no drunkards there Reader if thou art one guilty of this sin for the Lords sake bethink thy self speedily dost thou know what thou dost Thou wrongest thy body Vermine abound as â—ats and mice where there is much corn and Diseases abound in bodies given to excess Too much wood puts out the fire Meat kills more then the Musket The glutton digs his grave with his teeth and the drunkard drowns himself in his cup. Stratonicus spake fitly of the Rhodians They build their houses as if they were immortal but feed as if they intended to live but a little while Spare diet is the best cordial of nature Moderate fasting is the best physick He that riseth with an appetite Camb. Brit. Eliz. secures his digestion It was said of Queen Elizabeth That she ever rose with an appetite and that Edward the sixth was wont to call her his sweet sister Temperance and she lived seventy years Gallen lived 140 years and almost all the time without any sickness and this natural reason is given that he did never eat his fill It wrongs thy estate The drunkard and glutton shall come to poverty Pro. 23.21 Their throats are open sepulchers to bury their estates in Diogenes when he heard of a drunkards house to be sold cried out I thought he would ere long vomit up his house It wrongs thy Soul After rioting and drunkenness followeth chambering and wantoness Rom. 13.12 and wo and sorrow and wounds without cause look not upon the wine at last it biteth like a Serpent thine
surfeit Though Swine lye night and day in such mud do thou as the Sheep which sometimes fall into the mire but hasten out of it to the pleasant Medows Though the necessity of thy body calleth thee to thy recreations for a season yet let the necessities of thy soul and family call thee off from them in due time Let thy recreations be like a Porter whom thou mayst use for half an hour or an hour as thy occasions are and dismiss and not like an Houshold servant to dwell with thee constantly The Lacedemonians were so sparing that they are said to be even covetous of their time Secondly Look that thine end in them be right The end here will speak much to the specification of the act thy recreation must be as sauce to thy meat we eat sauce to sharpen our appetites to our food and to make us relish it the better so we must use recreations to whet our stomach to our callings and to make them the more savoury to us As musick to the Jews did stir up their minds and prepare their hearts for holy performances so lawful recreations may be used by us Gentiles to fit us for the service of God in our general and particular vocations The Saint by the comforts of his life may delight more in God the life of all his comforts He may follow these streams so long till he comes to the fountain of living waters He may conclude with himself If recreations by the creature be so sweet how sweet is communion with the Creatour The Musitian doth not leave his strings constantly wound up but sometimes lets them down and his end is that when he goeth again to use his Viol it may make the better Musick The wise Husbandman will not always cross-crop his ground but lets it sometimes lye fallow and his end is that sowing upon a Tilt he may have the greater crop So the Christian may allow his mind moderate release he may afford the ground of his outward man some rest but his end must be that when it comes again to be sowed to be employed it may be the more serviceable to God and his soul and truly so by going back a little he may have this advantage to leap the farther O how sordid a thing is it for men to use sports meerly to pass away their time hence they foolishly call them pastimes Reader art thou in haste to have some part of the thread of thy life cut off as if it were too long Wilt thou never consider that time is a silver stream running along into the Ocean of eternity and that eternity dependeth on the spending of this moment of time Dost thou not beleive that thy jovial companions now in Hell would give a whole world if they had it for one hour and that when thou thy self comest to dye and to look into the other World thou wilt say with the Roman General Sertorius in answer to his Souldiers who told him t was dishonourable to the Romans to pay tribute to the barbarous people inhabiting the Pyrenean Mountain Plut. Time is a precious commodity to be taken up at any rate Good God how much wilt thou think a Week a Day nay an hour worth For thy souls sake weigh thy time as it stands in relation to thine everlasting condition and then I am confident thou wilt aim at another end in thy recreations Though children go to school and work in hope of play yet men play to fit themselves for work Though wicked men have such sordid sinful ends in their delights do thou mind more noble and worthy designs Postotia virtus therefore oyl the wheels that thou mayst move the more chearfully and run the more swiftly in the way of Gods commandments Thirdly have an eye to the season of them Scholers have their play-hours yet if they be found playing when they should be at their books they must expect to be beaten The Master that doth not grudge his servant time to visit his friends and rejoyce with his familiars yet if he should do it when his work lieth upon the spoil he could not but take it very ill God alloweth us liberty for moderate delights but it is only when our general and particular callings will give us leave Cardinal Angelot is chronicled for a sordid person for stealing away the oats which his man had given his mare how sordid are those parents who steal their childrens food to pursue their own pleasures He that neglecteth his particular calling to follow his sports is like him that starveth his son to feed his swine And he that omits his prayers and religious duties to mind his pleasures is like him that is condemned to be hanged and hath only three days allowed him to procure his pardon in yet he spends all that time in hawking or hunting Recreations are like some fruits not always in season though at sometimes they are very wholsome yet at other times they are very hurtful The wise man tells us there is a time to weep and a time to laugh a time to mourn and a time to dance Eccles 3.2 and 5. There is a time to weep Sorrow is not always seasonable Dalilah disparaged her discretion by weeping on the day of her wedding There is a time to laugh Delights are sometime out of fashion He forfeits his credit that sports at a funeral Musick never suited with mourning In general recreations are then unseasonable when God and mens families are neglected that they may be minded when to give them water we are forced to make the Mill of our general and particular callings to stand still O what a fool is that voluptuous youngster who having no more horses then what is sufficient for his ploughing will yet take one to hunt upon and thereby cause the rest to be idle and his business to be undone But how mad is that person who Esau like is hunting and thereby misseth the blessing In particular our recreations are unseasonable on a Lords day and in times of publick calamities 1. Recreation are unseasonable on a Lords day Carnal pleasures must then vanish and spiritual pleasures must take place Our joy must be pure and heavenly on that day It is an holy day and therefore cals for holy delights God inviteth the Saint on that day to his own table provideth for him costly curious food and expecteth that he should come and not bring along with him the worlds course fare Observe the precept in the Evangelical prophet If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath from doing thy pleasure on my holy day and call the sabbath a delight the holy of the Lord honorable shal honor him not finding thine own pleasures then shalt thou delight thy self in the Lord. Is 58.13 14. Take notice from doing thy pleasure on my holy day our pleasures are such as flow from creatures now the Wine which makes glad the heart of a Saint on a Sabbath must be
nearly to exalt godliness in thy house as well as in thy heart nay I will be bold to tell thee if there be in thee the truth of Religion thou wilt propagate it amongst thy Relations Thou wilt not be like the Whirpool to suck all into thy self but be diffusive for the good of others A good Christian is like a needle touched with the Loadstone which being drawn it self will draw others along with it When Christ had drawn Philip he presently draweth Nathaniel 1 John 43.45 The Bird hath no sooner found an heap of corn but she chirpeth and calleth her fellows and will be sure to carry some home to her nest A Saint should endeavour the conversion of his neighbours that they may eat of the bread of life with him but he should have a special regard to his own family that all in it may feed on Christ by faith and live Nature hath taught the Bevers to help one another in swiming and the Cranes flying over the Mountain Taurus when the foremost is weary in beating the ayr that the next should succeed and so in order every one to labour for the safety of them all Christians are taught from other creatures to be helpful one to another but the Master of the family like the Sun must outshine all in respect of publique influence Plutarch saith of the neighbour Villages about Rome in Numa's time That sucking in the ayr of that City Niceph. they breathed righteousness Thy Family ought to be a wholesome ayr for others to breathe in It is reported of Andronicus the elder that he was Mr. of such a Family as was the shop of Vertue Enar. in Hos Prael and therefore it was called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Sun of the Earth Tremellius who for a time sojourned in Bishop Cranmers Family telleth us that it was Schola vel Palaestra Pietatis Literarum The School or Nursery of Piety and Learning The houses of the primitive Christians were little Churches in regard of the Worship and Service of God To the Church that is in thine house Philem. v. 2. Rom. 16.5 1 Cor. 16.9 Colos 4.15 Though many a mans house is so far from being Gods Church and Temple that its the Devils stye and kennel that God may say to the Master of the Family as in Rev. 2.13 I know where thou dwelleft even where Satans Throne is Nay though they are civil abroad then they will have some rags to cover their naughtiness they are sordid at home and discover there all their nakedness and nastiness David on the contrary whatever steps he might take awry and whatsoever slips he might meet with in his publique walking would be sure to look to his feet in his private dwelling I will walk in the midst of my house with a perfect heart until thou come unto me Psal 101.2 David was no Hypocrite he did not put on his best cloathes when he went out and put them off when he came in but Purity was his livery as abroad so at home Imitate that pious Governor who though he had the burthen of all the Israelites Civil and Military affairs lying upon his shoulders yet could say I and my house will serve the Lord. Reader I shall offer two thoughts to quicken thee to this necessary duty and then give thee directions for the management of it 1. Consider that Religion in a Family is the way to procure Gods blessing on thy Family The holy family alone is the happy family The Lord blessed the house of Obed-Edom for the Arks sake 2 Sam. 6.11 If the Ark be in the house that is Religion God is there for the Ark was a type of Gods presence and canst thou need any comforts when thou hast Gods Company The Philosopher could say Though he had few goods in his house yet he had the Gods in his house Though thou hast a poor dwelling yet if Godliness be there thou shalt have Gods blessing His presence will make the habitation of thy righteousness prosperous Job 8.6 Thou mayst say of thy house as Jacob of Bethel The Lord is in this place this is none other but the House of God Basil speaketh that in some Countries they draw other Pigeons to their Dove-houses by anointing one of their Pigeons wings with sweet Ointment If thy house be anointed with the Oyl of godliness it will allure the blessed God to it and then what evil needst thou fear or what good canst thou want It is observed of the Palladium in Troy that whilst that remained amongst them their City was safe The onely way to have a destroying Angel pass by thy house is to have the door-posts sprinkled with the blood of Jesus Christ Through wisdom is an house builded and by understanding it is established And by knowledge shall the chambers be filled with all pleasant and precious riches Pro. 24.3 4. Here is true wealth and the right way to injoy it 1. The true wealth thy chambers shall be filled with all pleasant and precious riches Righteousness is the best way to riches 2. The way to this by wisdom an house is builded and it is established by understanding By wisdom and understanding Godliness is understood And unto man he said Behold the fear of the Lord that is wisdom and to depart from evil is understanding Job 28. ult This wisdom is the best foundation for any house to stand upon When Religion layeth the foundation raiseth the walls and covereth the roof such a house is built upon a Rock and will stand against all the Winds and Waves wrath and rage of men and devils Some Families had lasted longer saith Luther if they had been holier Religion will bring a blessing on thy estate Job 1.10 Blessed is he that feareth the Lord that delighteth greatly in his Commandements For thou shalt eat the labour of thy hands happy shalt thou be and it shall be well with thee Psa 128.1 2. It will bring a blessing on thy Children God will be a God to thee and to thy seed after thee Gen. 17.7 Pro. 20.7 The branches will fare the better for the sap of grace which is in the root It will bring a blessing on thy name Pro. 10.7 Holiness will make thy house truely honorable It will bring a blessing on all thine affairs In a word that day in which Religion is set up in thy house I may say to thee as Christ to Zacheus This day Salvation is come to thy house 2. Consider A Family without Religion is a cursed family That house which is not Bethel an House of God but Bethaven an house of vanity is Bethany an house of sorrow and misery The curse of the Lord is in the house of the wicked Pro. 3.33 Whatsoever Cordials or comfors dishes or dainties are there the curse◠of God like the wild gourd which the sons of the Prophets put into their pottage will spoil and poison all As a little Leven a little of this curse of